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"So, coffee?" Girolamo looked up from his desk, the library completely devoid of life with the exception of him.

Go figure.

"What about it?" He didn't bother whispering since there was no one to disturb. He just looked back down at his all too familiar keyboard, wishing this dolt would go find someone else to pester. Especially after figuring out that he was affiliated with Vanessa and that she saw something in them. He was best left to his books; they were easier to read and avoid completely if necessary.

"Well, there's a new coffee shop nearby."

"Yes, the one on the corner of Mulberry. I haven't had the chance to go." The man almost jumped up excitedly onto the counter at that, leaning down and close enough that his shirt dropped and exposed his chest. Girolamo stared warily at him.

"Yes." He stated promptly, then silence.

"Uh, yes...?"

"I haven't gone yet either."

Girolamo frowned. The very manner that he carried himself in made him nervous. It was like he had some plan and mastermind plot that was turning gears behind those murky emerald eyes, and as if he expected Girolamo to just get it.

But he had no idea what the hell he was getting at.

"Ohhh-kay?" Girolamo shook his head slightly.

"So, do you want to go together?" He asked as if he had said it one thousand times before, yet somehow still managed to make it sound excited which made Girolamo sputter a bit.

"Now?" He let out meekly. Leonardo nodded once, enthusiastically which only narrowed the gap between Girolamo's brows, "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm at work."

"And?"

Breathe. Don't punch him; assault, Girolamo. That's assault.

"I can't just leave." Leonard looked around for a moment as if changing variables in this grand scheme of his. He flashed a despicably sly smile before speaking.

"Ya know, in all the time I've been here, I've never once seen you take a break." He said at last, fixing his eyes on something behind Girolamo, as if in thought.

"I don't see how a break is obligatory. If I choose not to take one, that's my own decision." He marked off some things on his notepad before punching numbers into the computer, trying to ignore Leonardo and get some work done.

"Well, yes, but you've surely got mounds of break time added up."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works." Vanessa, of course, chose that moment to pop her head in.

"Not how what works?" She practically peeped with her usual cheeriness. Girolamo groaned, dropping his head in his hands. This was all he needed, Vanessa making plans against him again. And not even trying to hide it, no less.

"Ah! Vanessa!" Leonardo beamed, jumping over the counter--much to Girolamo's disarray--to pull her into a hug.

"Honestly, where the hell is your sense of decency?" He grumbled to himself, bending over in his chair so that he could pick up the papers and other odd objects that had been disturbed. Placing them back on the desk with a tisk, he turned to look skeptically at the co-conspirators.

"...and so I was wondering if I could borrow Girolamo for a bit?" The man in question glared half threatening half pleading at her. She glanced over at him, a look that almost spoke of guilt shining in her eyes for but a moment before she looked to Leonardo, smiled, and said the words Girolamo had been dreading:

"I don't see why not." He swore then and there that he was going to kill this man.

---

And so there he found himself: sitting in the a two seater booth seat, a coffee in his hands. Leonardo was up at the counter, ordering some kind of snack by the looks of it. The man was strange indeed...

He took a sip of his coffee, the bitter taste refreshing to his senses as he stared out the window at the everyday bustle that was downtown. He'd ordered the simplest hot, black coffee, deciding that it was his safest option for a place he'd never been; but, moreover, Leonardo didn't need to know everything about him, now did he? Coffee was sacred to Girolamo. Knowing his favourite brew was like peering into his very soul.

And that was something he definitely didn't want this odd little man doing.

Interupting Girolamo's daydozing, Leonardo plopped himself down in the booth across from him, some sort of pastry hanging out of his mouth. He had another one in his one hand, and an iced coffee in the other. Seeming to notice Girolamo staring at him, he discarded his items onto the table and licked his fingers.

"I have pretty weird--or particular--tastes in coffee. They didn't have my brew, so I got an iced coffee instead." He wiped his hands off on his jeans. It's obvious that he'd simply get something else, considering the fact that they didn't have his normal coffee, but it made Girolamo wonder why he chose what he did. As is if he could read the questions on Girolamo's lips, he continuined his explaination after a brief moment of situating himself. "The safest thing to get, after all. Can't go wrong with iced coffee." Girolamo agreed. You really couldn't.

"Ah." He said, not really sure what to say. It had been such a long time since he'd gone out to town, and he really couldn't remember ever doing so with a man (he swore he had friends at one point in his life), let alone a man who was as annoying as this one. Needless to say, this situation was all rather uncomfortable.

"So, what'd you decide to get?" The brunette asked, munching away at his pastry. "Oh, and here. I got you one." He exteneded the other cake type thing to Girolamo who took it cautiously.

"Thanks. And I just got a black coffee." He said, taking a sip as if to finalise the sentence. Leonardo just nodded.

"Went simple too, huh?"

"Yeah." And they lapsed into an awkward silence, each eating their honeybun type cake things and sipping their coffee, really not feeling the need to say anything. It was rather strange and uncomfortable, yet some how it seemed cozy almost, and Girolamo felt as though he'd felt this feeling somewhere before, but it was hazy like a dream...

It felt like home, he realised. This sitting around, doing nothing, and drinking coffee. A home that he never had.

"Ya know what this feels like?" Leonardo said suddenly from across the table. Girolamo was staring at the window, his mug halfway to his lips.

"Home." He'd said instantly, not really knowing why he didn't think about it first. He felt a sudden rush of embarrassment, deciding to hide his face behind his glass, drinking his now warm coffee in gulps. But Leonardo only shook his head slightly.

"No, I was thinking more like a date."

Girolamo choked.

---

A/N

Aqua-kun, you are great indeed. You are legit the only reason I am still writing this <3

But I do know that I am a major ass at updates; I've accepted that about me. I blow off stuff all the time when I shouldn't XD and I can't write something good unless I write it all at once but the problem is, then, that I don't write at all untill I know I have:

1.) Time to write

2.) The will to write

3.) Enough of an idea to get me through a whole chapter and progress the story

So, yeah. It takes a while for me to start, but when I do I usually finish that chapter that day.

Honestly though, I would have had this up 2 weeks ago, but I was in the hospital and just got out recently. It was nothing health wise, or physical health anyway, so I'm okay :3

Anyway, sorry again one thousand times and thank you for sticking with this garbage so far XD

Also, sorry for typos 🤤 Wattpad doesn't seem to check for them anymore....?